Overview
King K. Rool's down tilt is among his largest commitments in his kit, being a frame 13 tilt. Down tilt has 4 unique hitboxes, all with different purposes, including a bury.
The first is an aerial-only stomp hitbox on frame 13. This hitbox is extremely strong, often ending stocks as low as 90% at the edge. This can occasionally connect out of down throw when trying to do bury storage with the bury hitbox as the opponent mashes out, creating a trap. The stomp hitbox also goes down and transitions into another hitbox especially for hitting the ledge and 2-framing opponents, which is almost as powerful as the first.
There is also a bury hitbox once the foot comes down for grounded opponents, that has a minor disjoint as well. Being a generic bury, down tilt's bury is affected by rage and stock differences[1]. This bury is quite strong, allowing for combos even at lower percentages, such as through knockback storage with neutral attack into Instant Dash Attack or a grab. This is also one of the most reliable down aerial meteor smash storage confirms due to the strength of the bury providing enough advantage for it. Forward smash is also a very common option out of this for its strong kill power. Generally, the reward for hitting a down tilt bury is usually a KO due to the options that it opens up for the K. Rool player, with little chance for the opponent to fight back.
Should the bury hitbox not connect, there is also an earthquake that goes out, known colloquially as "quake" by the K. Rool playerbase. This doesn't have any reliable hit advantage at lower percentages (+8 on hit at 0, tested on Mario, which isn't enough for followups at all[2]), but is very good for resetting neutral. It also has very favorable situations for followups, exploiting reaction time and poor panic options.
Hitboxes
Timing
Aerial-only stomp early | 13 |
---|---|
Aerial-only stomp late, bury and quake | 14-15 |
Interruptible | 43 |
Animation length | 60 |
Hitboxes |
Lag time |
Hitbox |
Hitbox change |
Interruptible |
|